"Not much of an emperor, from what I see." The priestess chuckled seeing Wuhan’s state and turned her head towards Noah in amusent.
"You may have an emperor, but I have an army..." Her words drilled through the fabric of space as several holes widened behind her and an astonished elf.
From the widening holes in space, an army erged in shadow. Row after row of figures stood within the darkness—too many to count. Hundreds of thousands, maybe more. Their shapes were not all human; among them lood hulking beasts, their glowing eyes cutting through the void.
The air grew heavy under their killing intent, pressing down like a storm before it breaks. Not one soldier moved. They waited in perfect silence, still as statues, like predators waiting for the signal to strike.
Then, a new tear in space opened. This one was different...
Because soone did step out of this one!
Golden hair flowed behind her like a banner, her armor gleaming faintly even in the dim light. The air around her bent with each step—Helena, the yellow-haired general.
Her gaze swept over Noah and Wuhan with the cold sharpness of a blade fresh from the forge.
Unlike Wuhan, she did not seem to have expanded much qi or have sustained any injuries. Thought when she looked at Wuhan, the killing intent around her would materialize into the shape of a Demonic Mantis.
The reason was the body lying in the crater Wuhan had stepped out of. The Slug, the creature she held most dear, was dead!
Helena was not alone this ti.
She had company. Another woman, a bit shorter than her, followed behind her. The figure of the woman was hidden behind Helena until she stepped to the side and revealed it.
A young woman with long black hair tied back in a simple knot, her steps unhurried, her eyes deep and unreadable.
Noah froze.
Wuhan’s face twisted, his breath catching for the briefest mont before he opened his mouth, and yet no words ca out of it, "..."
Song Liu.
The woman was none other than the forr mber of the Benevolent Guardian Sect. The very woman who Noah failed to save and fell under the grasp of the curse of the cult.
"Oh," The priestess noticed their odd expressions and let out a small chuckle. "Seems like you have a lot of history."
She focused her attention on Noah and asked, "So tell , how were you going to escape from here again?"
Noah’s eyes shimred with black and white light. His pupils dangerously contracted, thinning slightly.
A gust of wind flushed past the area as the two forces stood face-to-face with each other in a standoff.
The sun was starting to set low, drawing the end of yet another day closer. The sky turned pink, and under it, the ethereal golden-green world tree no longer appeared to be so divine.
The sinister red lines that pulsed under the darkening sky gave it a demonic look. Even so of its leaves, let alone the branches, had been infected.
Noah and the priestess stood face-to-face with each other without making the first move.
The wind whispered through the branches above, carrying the faint creak of wood under strain. Noah’s voice broke the silence.
"While you were preparing your attack," he said evenly, "I was buying ti for sothing of my own."
Helena’s golden eyes narrowed. Song Liu’s dark gaze sharpened. The two generals shifted slightly, their killing intent spiking, but Noah didn’t spare them a glance.
His eyes lifted toward the massive Elder Tree, its golden-green canopy stretching across the sky like a net. "I’ve been confirming a guess," he continued, his tone calm but cutting.
Slowly, his gaze returned to the priestess—or to the spot where her eyes would be behind that mask. "And now," he said, his words deliberate, "I know your secret."
The cult mbers stiffened as if struck.
Behind the mask, the priestess’s crimson lips pressed into a thin, cold line.
Noah leaned forward just slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper that only she could hear.
"I know that..." He spoke a single sentence—words that vanished into the air before anyone else could catch them.
But whatever he said hit her like a blade to the heart. She froze, every trace of movent gone.
The others, seeing their leader’s sudden stillness, faltered as well. The courtyard went silent.
Noah smiled faintly. He raised one hand, and with a casual flick—
Snap.
"Tier 6 Magic: Hell’s Blaze!"
A wildfire-like inferno erupted from thin air and circled around the group. The fire soared towards the heavens, forming a wall of fire that even touched so of the leaves of the world tree.
The priestess seed to have frozen the mont she saw those purple-black flas appearing out of an array formation that had appeared from thin air.
But it was no array formation; it was a magic circle.
Helena and Song Liu, along with Sylvheriel and other foot soldiers of the cult that had gathered in the area, backed away. The heat was so strong that even the ground started to show signs of burning.
But the priestess stood there as if she could not even feel the slightest heat from the flas.
Noah took advantage of their shock and lack of attention and vanished with his group.
"Where did they go?" Helena snapped as she noticed their absence from the gaps of the flickering flas. She tried to step forward, but the surging firestorm made it difficult for her to do so. "What is this fla? Is this so sort of heavenly technique or even a forbidden one?"
The priestess finally snapped out of her daze and turned around; a lone ember from the flas had caught on to the mask she wore, slowly burning it away.
As the mask burned, her cherry lips, pursed tightly together, parted as she spoke, "They teleported."
Helena flinched at how cold and empty her voice sounded. ’Her highness is angry!’
Slowly the mask disappeared as if sothing was eating away at it, revealing a pair of devilishly cold red eyes. Along with the color of the blood, there were several strands of silver in those eyes.
The air around her suddenly tensed and twisted. The dense energy from her body beca so livid that anyone present before her had difficulty breathing.
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